


So maybe our anarchy is moving on, Despite a world that wants us gone.

by Luthifer666



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Arguments, Death, Delusions, Depression, HLVRAI, Half-Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware, Horror, I know i have a bad track record of not finishing fics but here me out, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Other, Romance, Slow Burn, Zombie Apocalypse, frenrey, i think, none of this is rlly here YET but it'll probably be mentioned if i actually finish this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24920560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luthifer666/pseuds/Luthifer666
Summary: It's bring your kid to work day! Sadly for Gordon, the world decided it was a fun day to have an apocalypse upon them while in Black Mesa! Oh goody.---Title is subject to change, based off one of my poems. This is an apocalypse au basically. I'm going to TRY and get as far-into it as I can but my god am i bad at writing. Hope u have fun though!
Relationships: Benrey & Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Bubby & Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Tommy Coolatta/Darnold, forzen and a beyblade idk tbh if forzen is gonna b in this WHO know
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	1. Prologue - Rage is a funny thing

**Author's Note:**

> My hlvrai blog is Autistic-Benrey if u have questions/art!
> 
> Idk when the next update will be, i have the next chapter but im gonna wait a few days or at least until i finish chapter 2.

God they were so mad, staring at the group of people all day, they kept it hidden from the two friends that accompanied them around the wasteland that was this fucked up city. But they'd finally caught up to a group that the short angry beast seemed to hate so much. They didn't know WHY they felt like they had to stalk this random group- and keep it badly hidden from Darnold and Tommy. But it was easier to hide it then explain "I'm mad at this dude and I wanna talk to him about it. So we've been trailing them for like 2 days." 

They just decided it was normal to do that, to follow someone around because they were pissed off at them for reasons out of the man's hands. It was the apocalypse now or whatever, anything goes right? They could steal a PlayStation 3 and get away with it now...That made them angrier honestly, they wanted to go home and play game. Fun games, new fun fun time having fun games. UGH. "Let's go in here." Their monotone voice sprinkled out, the other two said something they weren't hearing and they broke into the apartment building, killing a few zombies and shuffling into a fairly nice room. 

They stayed their the rest of the evening, eating some rations and talking about nothing in particular. The large dog that accompanied them laid down, deciding it was time to sleep. "Goodnight!" Tommy said, laying down with his dog, Darnold also laid down.  
  
"Night guys." They said, entering a different room to look outside, spotting the group they'd been trailing just a few buildings down.

Gordon sat solemn, staring intently at the words that brushed out of the man in front of them. The man was speaking of their next plan to move to the east side of the city. It was almost ridiculous to think that everything went to shit so fast, He looked to Joshua who slept in his sleeping bag; he frowned to himself; if he ever met god he'd beat them to death for making the reality that Joshua would never grow up to a normal life. He squeezed his fists, interrupting the one in front of them. “Can we talk on this later? I Have… I have a headache. I think I’m going to go outside for a second.”   
  
“...Of course Gordon! Be safe.”   
  
Freeman stood, walking over to Joshua’s side and checked on him, before leaving the small abandoned room they were staying in and standing on the balcony. Looking up at the inky sky that drove itself across the edges of the universe. The lack of light pollution had made the stars more visible. He leaned against the railing, trailing up at the burning white eyes scattered around the void. He squeezed the rail, Tears welling up in his eyes. He slowly sank down onto the floor, cold to the touch. 

Meanwhile, a dark shadow watched from three to four buildings down. It’s yellow tired eyes glowing at the direction of Gordon. An interesting find, something about the bearded man sobbing on the floor of the balcony made the creatures' nerves tense up and grasp at their spine. It was angry. That day at work had been so normal- so nice and relaxing. They were so close to clocking out when Gordon entered with that shitty smile, idiotic mannerisms that grated at the monsters ears. But did it really grate? They hadn’t brushed up the nerve to talk to the man, he had his son with him and that made them uncomfortable.

Gordon looked up, feeling the familiar ‘I’m being watched’ anxiety hit him, he tried to find a suitable explanation, glancing at the street below and peering into the window at the group who were settled down for the night. He shook his head, running his hand through his curls, tangling it between his fingers and twirling it nervous in his hands, tugging at it. He looked up ahead, adjusting his glasses. Then he spotted it. Eyes narrowing at the unnamed building. A Figure stood in the darkness, their eyes seemingly glowing. But it was hard to see. Gordon leaned more over the rail, trying to focus on the figure.

“HEY!---”

The monster stepped to the side, casually walking back into the shadows and sitting down on a table. He heard Gordon shout some more confused wails about 'is anyone there?' bullshit- and soon the noises of the other people that were with him. Tapping it’s claws, they looked down at their dirty hands- squeezing the sharp edges into their pair of finger-less gloves. They closed their eyes for a second. Their brain buffering and lagging intently like a video game on a broken ps2. Once the sounds of talking died down they got the nerve to peak out, no one was on the balcony now. They had all started to settle inside. They sighed to themselves, hand moving to pick at some scabs on their hand, moving back into the room with his friends.

"What are you doing still awake?" A drowsy voice spoke, the creature quickly looking over, Tommy sat up carefully, rubbing his eyes.

"...I saw some people. We should keep quiet." They sat down next to their best friend.

The taller one thought for a moment, yawning "... I dunno! Maybe we can try and say hi...I mean...we can't be three people in this together Forever." They looked away, down at their combat boots. A hand is placed on their shoulder. "I think it would be a good idea to at least say hi. We can't distrust EVERY group, we'll just be cautious" They smiled, sharp teeth glinting in the light, their smile ALWAYS looked demented in someway, they nodded in response, laying down but not sleeping.

_ Yea, Maybe it was about **time** they met. _


	2. It All Comes Crashing Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They be like * is in black mesa *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope u enjoyed! Chapter 2 will be updated whenever I finish chapter 3
> 
> my hlvrai blog is Autistic-benrey if you have questions/art

…  
…  
...  
...  
BEEP BEEP BEEP WHAP-  
The sun shrunk Gordon's eyes; he lay on the messy bed, tangled up in the sheets that he had mistaken as a new cuddle buddy. He rolled over with an upset groan and forced himself upwards. It had been a tiring last few days at work; things had been acting up far worse than usual; but he didn't expect this day to be any different. He did his usual routine- Shower, eat a hot pocket, have a cup of coffee, He almost thought the babysitter was late when he died inside realizing that it was ‘bring your child to work day.’ Oh my god.

He scattered himself backwards to sling open his son's door- only to gently wake him up with an urge to get him to hurry- get dressed. Joshua slumped up tiredly, Drowsy and barely there, Gordon helped him with his outfit; A cute little dinosaur patterned t-shirt, soft little shitty bleach washed jeans. He helped Joshua tie his bright blue boots up before rushing him to eat. He bit his lip, tapping his foot and glancing nervously at the clock on his dainty wrist. Joshua was just 5 turning 6 in a couple of months. But that meant his eating felt like the world was going to end before he even got half way through his bowl of Fruit Loops.

"I'm done!" Joshie finally said, pleased that he'd finished ‘so fast’; Gordon took no time to rush him out the door, grabbing the preschoolers backpack along the way, Joshua would definitely need his stim toys and other assorted fun having fun items throughout the boring day. Gordon had honestly tried to convince the child that his work would be boring as hell to sit through- but that did NOT dissuade a reluctant and stubborn preschooler.

The dad drove, trying to speed just a little. But not a lot, he really would rather get fired then shoved into a jail cell for speeding very slightly over the limit- Is that how it’d work anyways? Do you go to jail for speeding? He mentally smacked himself around like a petulant teen ripping his parents a new one for daring to forget to get a ps3 for his birthday. He wished he'd remembered the day- maybe he wouldn't be fucking late. (Even though he always was). Joshua just hummed happily in the car as a song blared through the speakers. Was it weird to have music this high up? Yea, but tinnitus would be fun and exciting.

Once parked he helped his son out of his seat and guided him through to the shitty tram system. Gordon hated this tram system- it took forever, no matter how early he came to work the tram would take it’s sweet time getting into Black Mesa. No wonder he was always late! It’s like it knew every time just how long it’d take to make Gordon clock in minutes late- sometimes more. Joshua seemed to enjoy the ride though, looking excitedly out at the walls; The tram announcement system speaking as it usually did, Gordon just kind of blacked that out. Waiting for their stop.”Come on, Kiddo.” Gordon scooped his son up, A guard letting them in.

Most of the day was fine after that- Joshua LOVED the attention everyone was giving him, he was probably the youngest person here, some other people had teenagers hanging around looking bored, others had kids older than 10. But honestly it was a lot less than Gordon expected, Joshua would ramble to scientists trying to do their job about Dinosaurs- his current special interest. Gordon smiled softly to himself, He was glad everything was going so right.

He wasn’t doing anomalous testing today, but he was in the area it was conducted, most of his day spent talking to other scientists about the next experiment- They apparently had someone in the testing room taking over for him. He didn’t want Joshua to be too alone in such a big place so he had backed out last second today. Dr. Coomer, a weird dude that Gordon had known since his time working there seemed to get along with Coomer fantastically. The old man recited the entire Wiki page on velociraptors which kept Joshua Very Busy.

Gordon shifted, looking at one of the computer systems. Joshua was next to him, Tangle in hand and bright eyes staring straight at his work. He understood none of it. 

But something quickly went wrong- almost like the snap of a wrist against pavement, and an explosion screamed through the facility from a nearby testing room all too familiar. It was bigger than anything Gordon had certainly ever felt. Being flung back forcefully against the wall. His son wobbly collapsing on the ground at the structure shivering with agony and confusion at the new events. Gordon flung away from the wall, ignoring the pain in his body and wrapping his arms around him. Joshua sobbed, clinging his little body to the man’s science coat. Gordon rushed to a nearby closet sinking down low as he heard more explosions and screaming. Joshua sobbed.

“Papa? What’s happening?” He cried, little bubbling tears rushing down his freckled cheeks.

Gordon squeezed closer to the back of some cleaning equipment. “I don’t know Josh I- I- This never happened before.”

“I’m scared.”

“I- So am I, We’ll get out of here kid I…” He was quiet, letting his baby cry in fear as more explosions shook the facility to its core.

He didn’t know how long they had been huddled in that closet when things started to seemingly calm down out there- At least enough where the sound of booming was a distant dream, it felt like hours, but who’s really sure? Gordon slowly stood up. Still holding his son close. “Joshua, It might be messy out there, I’m going to carry you and...and I want to keep your face in my chest okay?” The five year old only nodded, shaking in fear. Gordon wouldn’t want him to see some fucked up shit like dead bodies.

Gordon felt so guilty, he could’ve just NOT brought the child here; He should’ve known some fucked up shit was happening, especially after the past few weeks with power problems, things not working, ...But it was too late- and he was currently too scared to keep standing in place. He rushed open the door, looking down the dark and battered hallway. Shifting slowly down the corridor he watched the exposed wires hang from the ceiling. 

He gulped to himself, edging forward, he saw blood and pieces from people, but not ever a full torso. Gordon continued down the long hallway. It almost felt unreal. He squinted his glasses, seeing a scientist sitting cross-legged on the floor like nothing was happening. “Sir-!” Gordon said quickly, rushing forward. The scientist stood up, His glasses shining, somehow, in the darkness. 

“Oh shit. I was wondering if Anyone else survived.” The scientist said, looking at Gordon’s face before eyeing the small child hiding his face with the confines of Gordon’s shirt. “OH, fuck you got a kid.”

“Yea-...This is my son, Joshua.” Gordon looked at Joshua. Who glanced up slowly at him, then at the old scientist in front of them. The uncomfortable waft of fear from the young one made the room go cold.

The scientist stared for a moment before uncomfortably looking away. “Well I think we should get the hell out of here.” He turned, starting to walk down the hall. Gordon quickly followed behind.

“I’m uh, Gordon, Gordon Freeman.” He says, adjusting his son in his arms. “What’s your name…?”

“... … ...I don’t remember.”

Gordon sighed, “Come on man I- I know you’re lying you have to tell me please, This isn’t time for games.”

The scientist adjusted his glasses, thinking. “Augh. Fine… … ...Bubby.”

“Bubby????”

“Yea.”

“That cannot be your name. Did you hit your head in the explosion?” And to that he got no reply. Okay well He had nothing else to call this man so ‘Bubby’ was good enough.

At some point while walking they came across two scientists lying against the corner of the wall. They looked pretty injured and Gordon let them speak, they told Gordon to ‘find anyone and let them know they’re trapped’ While they spoke Bubby was attacking something. Gordon fearfully watched some sort of fucked up spider come out of nowhere and try to attack them, It bounced pretty fucking high- He could see a disgusting maw covering it’s stomach that wiggled with each attempt to clamber on top of the group. He backed off- Holding Joshua, who was crying again, close as Bubby went ham on killing it with a gun he had...found?

“What the hell was that?” Gordon blurted out. Shaking a little. He had a crowbar they found earlier but… That was hard to use when you’re holding a child. 

“I don’t know. Fucked up roast chicken?” Bubby said, as if that made any sense, but before Gordon could speak his confusion the other spoke once more, “Come on Gordon we’ve got a place to escape.” He sat, running towards the door with Gordon in tow. 

Bubby was honestly kind of quiet while they walked around looking at shit, when he did talk it was strangely robotic- It was either robotic or completely ridiculous and there seemed to be no in-between, Gordon couldn’t pin why, but the elder looked pretty worried. While walking next to him Gordon decided he might as well try and create conversation. “So...Everything alright? How are you holding up?” 

The older man was quiet, looking through one of the doorways. “Fine. I’m waiting for a friend, that’s why I was sitting in that spot earlier.” And it’s why he was dawdling, and constantly distracting Gordon from the main task at hand- Escaping. 

Gordon nodded a little, worried. “Well I’m sure we’ll find him.” He put a hand on Bubby’s shoulder, smiling confidently.


	3. I Fucking Hate Black Mesa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They be wlaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> autistic-benrey is my hlvrai blog if u have questions or art or w/e

They made it to an elevator shaft that looked to be in working condition, Gordon sighed, Rubbing a hand on his head. He went to press the button, and right before he did a familiar voice suddenly spoke. “Hello, Gordon!”    
  
Gordon screamed like a child, making Bubby (and Joshua) laugh like a bunch of children-- Well I mean one IS a children. He whipped around. Still clinging onto Joshua. A smiling, gleeful looking Dr. Coomer walked up next to Bubby. “Oh my god Coomer!” Bubby said, immediately looking less tense, and then going back to tense.

  
“Hello, Bubby! Pleasant to see you. Sorry it took me so long.” They high fived, making Gordon smile. “And hello, Gordon! It’s great to see you- and your...Son.” Coomer glanced at the young child still trapped in Gordon’s protective hold.

Gordon smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay man- I was wondering what happened.”    
  
Dr. Coomer nodded, “Well we should get going! I know the way to Surface Access, Gordon!”    
  
“Nice t’have you on the team, man.” Gordon smirked, turning and pressing the button… Then there was blood curdling screaming as the elevator sped downwards past them and crashed in one billion pieces on the ground far below them. “I…”   
  
“Now Gordon, You might’ve just killed three innocent lives but it’s important to stay calm!” Coomer said, as happy as ever.

“You’re a murderer.”   
  
He stared at the elevator shaft. Joshua squeezed onto him more, Joshua seemed too overwhelmed to really hear anything that was going on. He really hoped his son didn’t just learn that Gordon technically killed three people. But it was an accident!

  
Coomer walked through the doorway, “Well let’s go!” He said, practically flying up the elevator. Holy shit he was fast. Bubby started and stopped pretty quickly.

Climbing with one arm is going to be hard, Joshua clung tighter, terrified of the ladder. They’d have to climb pretty high. Gordon began his trek up with his son in his arm. “Hold on tight kid, don’t look down.” He spoke quietly, softly.    
  
“I’m afraid of heights!”   
  
“I’m right here dude I’m- I’m helping you up!” He nudged the doctor's foot with his head, who quickly began to scamper up like a scared animal. 

Once off the hell ladder, Gordon Clambered up, Walking with the others, they met a few more enemies, But Coomer and Bubby took care of them pretty fast, Coomer just used his fists- which was pretty impressive, while Bubby used his gun which, Gordon still has no idea where he got that. Did he just have one on his person for some reason?

  
Finally, they made it into a small break room. It was empty besides 2 vending machines. Gordon put Joshua down. He ran over and clicked the buttons, even tried to pay- but it didn’t work. He stepped back, thinking. Before bringing his crowbar up and breaking both vending machines open. Joshua seemed a little confused but smiled when Gordon came over with a handful of snacks and soda. “Here- We need to eat some. Then we can keep some of the rest as backup.” He was speaking at Joshua, but technically saying this to Bubby too. Who agreed but seemed reluctant for some reason, and probably ate more than Gordon and Joshua, they had to VERY quickly hide the rest of the snacks, Coomer had eaten a lot as well, which made Gordon upset- they needed this shit! But they still had some left over to bring with them, the ones that were safe from Coomer and Bubby’s evil pizza hands.

They wandered back out, Bubby took the lead because he had a gun and wasn’t walking with a child, Coomer close behind him. Joshua was standing now though, he was clinging to his father's coat and looking around the rooms. Bubby peaked into the locker room, thinking for a moment before looking at Gordon; Then at the kid. “There’s uhm. Someones dead Gordon.” Gordon frowned.

“Joshua I need you to close your eyes now okay? I’ve got you.” They walked through into the locker room, Joshua’s eyes covered. Gordon looked at the dead body, making a face, almost expecting Coomer or Bubby to mention it at all but they didn’t.

Gordon walked over to his locker, grabbing some stuff he thought would be useful, there wasn’t much, but anything at this point works, he put his bag over his head and shoved the food they’d been carrying around in there. Gordon looked in the bathroom, woah- Was there this many people in there a second ago? He can’t remember. He looked at Joshua who was standing by Gordons locker with his hands still on his face, Coomer watching him close by.   
  
“Okay everyone- We’re here- We’re gonna get you out of-” Something hit his foot, he looked down. “WHAT THE FUCK-” He ran out of the line of site, an explosion echoed through everyones ears as all the scientists exploded with the worlds most mysterious grenade.

“HOLY SHIT.” Bubby exclaimed, running out.    
  
Gordon was definitely scarred for life, he ran out, scooping up Joshua and quickly stumbling out of the locker rooms. “We have to get out of here.” He said, The other two followed. Looking a lot less horrified. Gordon felt like he was going to lay down and die- but he physically couldn’t break down with his kid RIGHT here.

They continued down the hall for a while, Gordon even more horrified to see zombie-like creatures- those weird little crabs had embedded their jaws around the heads of science team members, Even mutating them somewhat. It was horrified and he tried to get Joshua to look away, to stop hearing- but it was no use, the child had already seen what happened. And was sobbing as Bubby and coomer murdered them dead. All Gordon could do was shush him and keep him close, himself close to tears. “It’s okay Joshie, Dad will protect you from the monsters…”

Time seems to pass at almost an unnatural speed, and my god is Gordon learning about how much he fucking hates Black Mesa; Why aren’t there ANY emergency exits? You’d think that such a large and dangerous facility would literally have ANYTHING to help them get out of here; instead it almost seems like it’s purposefully making it harder to escape. Gordon watched Coomer kill a clone, luckily Joshua wasn’t looking- but god damn it Gordon felt tired. They made it to a little storage area that was devoid of people; And pretty quickly as they entered any Peeper Puppies or crabs, so Gordon took the chance to set his son down and relax. Laying down on the floor with a sigh, covering his face with his hands.

Joshua yawned, going over to Dr. Coomer and climbing into his lap and curling up. Joshua had already begun to get pretty attached to the old dudes, When they were in less dangerous areas Joshua would talk quietly to Coomer or Bubby about the things he liked, and occasionally when Gordon had to take initiative or do something without Joshua the two would watch and distract the young child. It would’ve been a nicer sight if their lives weren’t being threatened every minute they stayed inside. 

“...” Gordon looked over to the two older men, Coomer whispering to him quietly, looked like Joshua was ready to fall asleep, they’d been running around all day. And the fear that Joshua’s little body wasn’t used too probably made it helluva lot harder to stay awake. “We’ll stay here and rest… You sure you know where surface access is Coomer?” Gordon stretched.   
  
Dr. Coomer nodded happily. “Yes Gordon! And for 2 play coins I can help you along the journey. But I recommend saving those for the Vents!”

Gordon must’ve made a face, but the other two didn’t seem to care, or maybe even notice. Gordon nodded and closed his eyes. Sighing to himself. “Goodnight Guys…”   
  
“Goodnight, Gordon!”

**...**

**_Insufferable, the feeling of god's eyes choking out your throat on a sunday afternoon. Your poor son screams as monsters steal him away, gripping and gnawing at flesh and bone. Melting away the agony of life. You WANTED to keep him safe, to be a good father, but you brought him to work- you let him see the blood, death and decay that surrounded the group. You’re a terrible person, but he has no one else, so you fight to the end knowing that one day, one slip up, and everything you’ve lived for will fall around you like dominoes, hitting the sides of your head, a concussion, painful and beautiful. There’s a figure in the distance, you can’t walk or move, but it’s angry, it’s so mad. It’s so fucking mad._ **

**_..._ **

“WUH” Gordon shot up, confused as the room they were in before was...in fact not the room they were in now. He had NO Idea where the fuck he was. Looking frantically around, Joshua was drawing on the wall with Bubby, and Coomer stood happily nearby.    
  
“Ah! Hello, Gordon!” Coomer smiled pleasantly. “How was your rest?”   
  
Gordon blinked. “The… Were you guys moving me in my SLEEP?”

“Yes!”   
  
“What the- Why? Where are we?”   
  
Bubby walked over, the five year old following suit. “We wanted you to progress, Dumbass.”   
  


“Just- wake me up like a normal person next time?” Gordon stood up fully, Stretching his limbs, sleeping on the hard floor didn’t make him feel very good at all. But whatever, everything seemed fine enough.   
  
Gordon rubbed his eyes, “Hey Joshie, How are you feeling?” He asked, looking down at his son.   
  
The child took a second to respond, looking at Bubby and Coomer, then back at his dad. “Scared but Grandpa said it’ll be okay!” He smiled. GRANDPA?!?!   
  
He didn’t have time to say anything about that as Bubby interrupted by running forward. “Oh by the way, Found us some guns here. Check your pockets Gordon.” 

Yep! He did have a pistol, ok good, he needed something easier to use then a crowbar- Actually he has barely any gun experience is it actually that much better. He swooped up his son and they continued on, through a series of rooms, and god did Gordon start hating ropes really fucking fast. It made Joshua laugh which was a bit concerning but he IS a kid with no grasp of a serious situation, and Coomer was always fine after trying to get himself choked out by the nearest ‘rope’.

Not to mention so many places were blocked off still, why is Black mesa like this? At some point they’re crawling awkwardly through a cold vent, and into a meat freezer, why the hell do we have a meat freezer. His questions only stacked when Coomer happily said, “We’re working on flash freezing human meat!” And no, no answers were ever dishes out, they never were. Gordon never got an answer, it was like questions don’t matter!    
  
And my god, Why was Bubby trying to throw grenades at them.

Nothing made any fucking sense. It was like clockwork, wake up, be in a slightly different room, go through hell and protect your son, then go to sleep, have a nightmare, wake up. But finally, Fucking Finally they reached surface access, Gordon stood on the elevator, breathing in slow and looking a Bubby. “What are you going to do when we get out of here?”   
  
“Come back down.”   
  


Gordon, obviously puzzled, chuckled nervously, “What? No you’re not!”   
  
Bubby excitedly spoke, pretty matter of factly “I wanna do it again! I made some mistakes, I need to perfect my run!”

“It's not an amusement park. It's not like you could just go for another ride!” He couldn’t believe how serious Bubby looked about this.

The lift stopped and they peaked through the outside. They didn’t see anyone, he’d honestly expected the military to show up at some point, but they’d seen no sign of them, Gordon clung to Joshua and they walked past the boxes, fences. There were bodies OF military men here but… No sign of life.    
  
Dr. Coomer spoke, “Great! I know where to go from here. I have a car in the lot!” Coomer began to walk through and step over dead bodies and aliens, “We’ll get there in no time with my Super- Oh yes you don’t HAVE cybernetics. Oh well, we’ll just have to walk!” Gordon put Joshua down who held his hand as they walked.

Gordon followed quietly, he was happy to finally be out...but Something inside of him KNEW this wasn’t the end, if the military wasn’t here, if aliens had very obviously gotten outside...how far had they spread? They were in Black Mesa for days after all… He looked behind him to where they had come from. He swears to fucking god he sees a skeleton- just for a second, but as soon as he blinks it’s gone.

Why is there a skeleton?


	4. On the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEEEEHAW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> autistic-benrey is my hlvrai blog if u have questions or art or w/e

The car started and Gordon made sure Joshua was buckled in perfectly… He was so awkward, and quiet, he had no idea why they let Coomer park his car out here- this is NOT where cars are supposed to be parked, but he’d rather not answer. They sat quiet, Driving towards the city, Gordon already knew something was wrong when half a mile in he saw a headcrab zombie wobbling slowly, Bubby was on lookout management, and would shoot down sites with relative ease. But it was definitely a bad sign that some had escaped the confines of Black Mesa in such a short time, he felt a pit grow in his stomach.

It was only obvious that something was even more wrong when the city was in view, there was buildings with smoke billowing out, “Oh my…” Coomer spoke, looking ahead as he drove, “This might not be great Gordon! It appears the apocalypse might be upon us.” Of course it was, of course this was the luck Gordon had!   
  
Bubby sighed, deciding shooting at headcrabs and zombies was no use if there was this many, he should save his ammo for more specific situations. “Fuck, Okay what’s the plan then?”   
  
Coomer hummed, “Now, I was thinking we could find a safe haven- A place to hide out in. It’s going to be much too dangerous to run around with your child, Gordon, so a nice safe place where we can watch him and not be attacked would be perfect! Like a forever sleepover.”   
  
That was a weird way to put that- but he decided it was probably because his kid was there. Gordon sighed, looking to Joshua, “Hey bud I need to talk to you.” Joshua looked up at him, It almost made Gordon burst out crying, but he didn’t, he had to be strong. “Things...They’ll probably not be the same for a long long time. Okay? Things are dangerous, but we’ll keep you safe.” He put a hand on his head, hugging him at an awkward angle.

“Okay…” Was all Joshua could muster, his lil kid brain probably couldn’t figure out a way to handle all of this. He pulled away, Looking at Joshua with sad eyes.   
  
Gordon sat up more, the closer they got to the city the more nervous that he got. “Okay...I guess first things first is find a place to hide- Anyone got a place nearby?” Gordon asked, trying to sound more confident than he was.

Coomer hummed. “I was thinking we could head to my place- It’s a nice house! And it’s probably the closest place out of all of our homes.” He nodded, they looked around as they entered the city.

Gordon had no idea how long they had been out- a couple days? A week? Maybe more, who fucking knows, he doesn’t even remember what date it was when they went in. But it was enough for damage to be caused, he supposes, there’s cars dumped on the road with no one in them, there’s headcrabs and other aliens nearby; Luckily they’re not close enough to harm them just yet. He sighed, fixing his glasses. Bubby relaxed, slinging an arm out the window. “Can’t believe it’s my first time out of Black Mesa and it’s shit.” He chuckled to himself but a twinge in his voice sounded actually disappointed- it was crazy to know Bubby had lived down there his whole life, AND had never gone outside of the area. 

It was a longer amount of driving after that, it was a lot slower then before, they kept having to get out and move cars out of the way, luckily that didn’t take TOO long since Coomer was apparently a fucking beast and had the strongest muscles in the known universe. A while into the day, it was probably about 2pm, they decided to take a detour to a nearby gas station and see if there was any signs of life or even some food to steal, Gordon had finally convinced these fools not to immediately crunch down on any food they found; But he was nervous of course- how the hell could he trust them after he broke multiple vending machines that they just slurped up in the matter of seconds? Whatever.

Gordon decided Bubby would stay and watched Joshua, who had since fallen asleep- He didn’t really expect himself to trust Bubby so much with his son but, he had a good aim and seemed to know what he was doing with a gun; not to mention Joshua had a weird attachment to the elder. Joshua was like a cat, attaching to people who seemed upset to be around a kid.

Looking into the gas station he didn’t see anyone, it looked like shit had been broken and some stuff was already taken, but there had to be some worthwhile supplies right? He slowly walked in, Coomer behind him happily waiting for a chance to punch (or shoot) the lights out of an Alien, or a zombie, either one, maybe even a person. Gordon kept his crowbar close, slinking into the building and looking at the shelves. “Grab anything you think is useful, keep an eye out though.”    
  
“Yes, Gordon!”   
  
Gordon snatched up some snacks that hadn’t been stolen, some water, the likes, there wasn’t that many but luckily not everything had been grabbed, Coomer said something about ‘bringing some stuff back to the car’ So Gordon was now in the station alone for just a little bit, and as soon as Coomer paced out the feeling of being watched filled his lungs with an uncomfortable static. Gordon’s eyes slowly scanned the area, biting his lip each moment that passed- The bathroom door was just slightly open, and as soon as his eyes locked on a glowing yellow orb staring at him through it, it closed. “HEY!”    
  
He ran between the shelves, slamming open the bathroom door and looking around, It was just one small room with a sink and a toilet- one tiny window up near the ceiling...No signs of anyone. He relaxed, Feeling less watched. “Hello, Gordon! What’s wrong? I heard you yell!” Coomer spoke suddenly behind him.    
  


“WHUHUH-! Oh shit…” He put a hand through his hair, “Don’t scare me like that…” He turned around, Looking at the older man.   
  
“Hello, Gordon!”   
  
“Hello, Dr. Coomer...I just thought I saw someone, no need to worry though I guess I was .... wrong?”   
  
“Oh Okay! I’m going to go fill up my Gas Canister, There’s some left over in the machines.” He gave a thumbs up and trotted out with glee, Gordon WISHES he could be that calm about this whole situation. 

Going back to supplies, he picked up as much of what was left, and walked out, Going to the trunk and shoving it in, Coomer soon walking over with a half filled gas canister and placing it in. “Wonderful! Now we can get a move on AHA!” He hopped over the door, Gordon got in, tiredly sitting back against the cushion. Everyone so once in a while he’d feel that ‘I’m being watched.’ but he never saw anything…   
  
It was getting darker, it was getting harder to stay in this car. At some point Coomer spoke. “Now Gordon, I don’t think We’ll be making it to my house today, perhaps we can stop at one of these buildings.    
  
“That’s...Yea, Good Idea… You think your car will be safe down here alone? No one will steal it?”   
  
Coomer laughed, almost mockingly. “Don’t worry, Gordon! My car has a built in defense mechanism, anyone who tries to break in will be snapped in half like a toothpick  ❤️”

  
Wow! Okay, he didn’t know how to respond to that, Scooping up his tired son in his arms. They broke in, killed some shit, and found a room that was easy to seal off, luckily Joshua was a deep sleeper just like Gordon, so he didn’t wake up for a while. Gordon and the others sat down.   
  
“So...What would you have worked for if… If all this shit didn’t happen?”  
  
Coomer hummed, “Well I wanted to be a wrestler before my Blasted Ex-wife convinced me to go into a life of science!”   
  
Gordon nods a little, “Okay… Well what ‘About you Bubby?”  
  
“I want to go to space.” Bubby shrugged, he hadn’t really thought of ‘dreams’ before just now, but space was so...beautiful, different.   
  
“Huh...Yea that’s cool.”  
  
“What about you, Gordon?”  
  
“No it’s...dumb you probably wouldn’t wanna hear it.”  
  
Bubby scoffed, “Just tell us idiot.”  
  
“...If all this didn’t happen and, I had a job, I’d want to be a justin.TV streamer… For video games…”  
  
Bubby laughed, “Oh so like stupid baby shit things?” he immediately made fun of Gordon, wow.  
  
“I’ve never been a fan of ‘Video Games’.”  
  
“I’d stream Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, It’s my favorite game."

Coomer made a face, "My Ex wife LOVED Kane and Lynch."

"...Maybe you should play it if we somehow get a copy during all this, it could turn you on the medium.” Gordon chuckled   
  
“It could TURN ME?????”   
  
“Bad wording, sorry…” Gordon said, chuckling to himself   
  



End file.
